Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 14, 2007 11:50:31 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Well, Tuesday and Thursday are my normal rock slabbing days but today we had to do some banding and release our last few baby hawks. I know a few of you like birds so here are a few pics: Netting in the big flight. First ya got to spot the right birds, then catch them. Only a few left now and lots of room to fly in a 110 foot by 30 foot flight and when the birds are flying strong and ready to go, believe me this is exercise! The bin to the left of me in the pic is the live rat bin so the birds can learn to hunt. Next: Getting a wild bird with nasty sharp talons untangled from the net: Finally, the trip out to the boonies and a final checkup before release. My wife tried several times to catch the bird flying off but they're too fast for the camera *L*.
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Post by Lady B on Aug 14, 2007 11:53:36 GMT -5
Oh! Beautiful! Thank you--for the pictures and for the incredible "work" that you do.
Lady B
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erbojones
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2006
Posts: 659
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Post by erbojones on Aug 14, 2007 12:43:00 GMT -5
Wow - great pictures! What a beautiful bird. Great work you do - thanks for sharing it with us.
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Post by akansan on Aug 14, 2007 13:49:08 GMT -5
I was hoping by the title this meant more bird pictures from you. Do y'all ever have "return" visitors?
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Post by flintfish on Aug 14, 2007 14:20:44 GMT -5
That's incredible, really fabulous birds, thanks for sharing them. Do you breed them for release, or are they orphan / injured birds? Whichever, it's great!.
Cheers,
Harry
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Post by takilasunrise on Aug 14, 2007 14:36:16 GMT -5
That's really neat! Thanks!
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Post by krazydiamond on Aug 14, 2007 15:40:21 GMT -5
cool birdies, but you are right, that looks like hard exercise trying to catch one without smashing it. "live rat bin" sounds like a new album coming out......do you trap the rats or buy them?
KD
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Post by Condor on Aug 14, 2007 15:43:16 GMT -5
Hey thanks pics. I like what you do. That second picture is something else. I'd hate to tangle with that bird. He seems a might ticked off, and he'd tear me to shreads.
Condor
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,487
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 14, 2007 16:19:25 GMT -5
arkansan; Occasionally we do have returns and we do get band record returns when a bird dies and is found or is spotted elsewhere. We've actually had Red tailed Hawks we've banded here show up in eastern Canada.
Harry: All these are rescued and rehabed birds. We topped 1000 birds of all species last year. We don't be breed birds at all. That takes a special permit. We're strictly rescue, rehab and education.
KD: The trick is to put the net in front of the bird and let it fly in. Too much chasing just wears all of us out *L* especially me as I'm getting old and not as fleet as I once was.. We raise our own rats and mice and have some donated from labs.
Condor: This work is not without it's dangers. My wife, Sher, got nailed this morning when one of the birds shot a foot out of the transport box and caught her with two talons. Never a nice experience!....Mel
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Post by flintfish on Aug 14, 2007 16:34:43 GMT -5
1000! man that's some turnover! Must keep you seriously busy. It's great that your in the loop, you've certainly got the facilities for the job! They are truly spectacular birds, I can see you keep 'em wild for return. It's great that wildlife has folks who are motivated to "do the right thing" and get involved.
I used to volunteer my holidays working the local city natural history museum. We had folks bring in all types of wildlife from birds to foxes, badgers deer foals, etc... It was a wonderful place to be involved. The head wildlife chap, a truly great old-timer, was "in the loop" and we'd get rescue birds from all over. Wollaton Hall in Nottingham is a brilliant visit if your over the pond, theres a cracking mineral collection too!!!
Nice to see the varied range of interests we all have! Thanks for sharing.
Harry
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darrad
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2006
Posts: 1,636
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Post by darrad on Aug 14, 2007 19:11:35 GMT -5
Raptors are so misunderstood by so many people. They are a magnificent creature and you Sir are doing some great work on their behalf. I thank you! Dave.
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Post by joe on Aug 15, 2007 0:56:38 GMT -5
Some of us are happy just to feed the birds seed. You take this to a new extreme!! COOL!!
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Post by Tonyterner on Aug 15, 2007 6:41:40 GMT -5
A very worhty endeavor. Hawks are my favorite bird. I was fishing on a local river saturday morning and got to watch a sharp shinned hawk chase some small song birds, always cool to see. He got one too, which is more than I can say about me the the fish. Keep up the good work.
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Post by texaswoodie on Aug 15, 2007 6:51:24 GMT -5
Very cool Mel. A red tail hawk got caught in one of my traps one time. The thing nearly ate me alive while I was trying to get it out. It's mate was circling above doing that screeching thing they do. All in all, it was very stressful for all of us. :-)
Curt
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